Lima (AFP) - The rediscovery of a pre-Columbian fresco in northern Peru showing mythical scenes is of "extraordinary value" because of its state of preservation, according to the archaeologist who found it, while his counterparts only knew of the site. Pictures taken in the early 20th century.

Sam Ghavami, who spent four years searching for the mural, which he says dates back a thousand years, told AFP, "It is rare to find murals of this kind among the pre-Columbian ruins."

The Swiss archaeologist found the mural in October among the remnants of the ancient "Huaca Pintada" mortuary temple in Elemo, a village located in the Lambayeque region (north).

"What this painting is made of is unique in the history of pre-Columbian mural art in Peru," Ghavami added.

The date of the mural was confirmed by black and white photographs taken in 1916 by the German Hans Heinrich Brüning, one of the most important ethnologists residing in Peru during that era.

"We don't know why Bruning didn't publish the photos, so we had to wait until 1978 when an American researcher named Richard Schedel found them during a visit to the Hamburg Museum in Germany," said a doctoral student in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Friborg in Switzerland.

"Since then, archaeologists have realized the existence of Huaca Pintada, but no one has returned to the site to search on the grounds that nothing will be found," he added.

Part of the mural, which is about 30 meters long, features blue, brown, red, yellow, black, white and lucuma (mustard yellow).

The painting shows a procession of fighters walking towards a bird-like deity.

"The painting seems to be inspired by the idea of a religious hierarchy based on the worship of ancestors and its close relationship with the forces of nature," Ghavami said, noting that the mural constitutes "an expressive image of the political and religious system of the ancient inhabitants of the region."

The mural's value lies in the combination of the styles of two pre-Columbian cultures, the Sican civilization, which inhabited the northern coast of Peru between 900 and 1350, and the Moche civilization, which predominated between 100 and 850.